Founder and group chief executive officer Anthony Tan said the company, which was set up in July 2011, has presence in Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam.

MyTeksi, known as GrabTaxi regionally, is looking at expanding its service network into all the major markets in Southeast Asia by April next year.

"We believe the taxi industry in Southeast Asia is fragmented. This means opportunity for us. We want to be in every major city in the region within the next 12 months," he told Business Times recently.

Tan said the company was keen to expand outside Malaysia because that is where the biggest growth is.

"These markets have much bigger population sizes and they're chewing up smartphones like there is no tomorrow," he said.
The app was launched in Malaysia in 2012 and it has been downloaded onto more than one million mobile devices in Southeast Asia. It now has more than 20,000 taxi drivers registered on its network regionally.

According to Tan, more than 250,000 people in the region use the app at least once a month.

Meanwhile, the company has the second-largest fleet in Singapore after ComfortDelGro.

"We are still quite new there, but the response from the community has been great. We've also partnered with some of the most important taxi fleets there," he said.

Interestingly, GrabTaxi aims to provide safe and reliable taxi rides to passengers by being, first and foremost, a social enterprise.
Tan said the income of drivers who are active on GrabTaxi's platform has been increasing by between 30 and 300 per cent.

"By helping them to make more income, they become more loyal to the platform and help provide better customer experience to passengers," he said.

Last Tuesday, the company secured fresh funding, led by Singapore-based Vertex Ventures Holdings. Tan, however, did not specify the amount.

"The additional investment will allow us to tap new markets and cement our position as the best and biggest taxi booking mobile app in the region," he said.

"Our teams are growing and passionate about providing the best service to taxi drivers and commuters. We continue to invest in the local talent in each market because we want to build a world-class team that responds to local demands," he added.

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